Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

Welp, it's another Frenchkiss Records love affair. The Dodos, The Antlers, Passion Pit, and now Local Natives. I'm not quite sure what they're doing right, but they keep releasing refined, thorough albums with unique sounds - an excellent recipe for music love-affairs.

Gorilla Manor, the new album from Los Angeles-based Local Natives, is fantastically catchy and emotional. The lyrics, sometimes vague, sometimes incredibly blunt, always flow incredibly well. To describe their sound, think something like an upbeat, drum-driven band (kind of like The Dodos in that sense) with the occasional vocal Fleet Foxes Effect. Throw in some Dirty Projectors-like harmonies, a little Grizzly Bear-like ambiance, and a bit of older Say Anything roughness (…Is a Real Boy), and you've got something close.

As far as the album itself, I absolutely love the feel of it. A fantastic mix of upbeat, raw emotion along with that touch of realism that makes listening to it more of an experience than just picking out a song or two. The flow is easy to fall into, and turning it off halfway through leaves you missing it immediately.

My favorite songs on the album are the opening track, "Wide Eyes", "Airplanes", "Wold News", "Who Knows Who Cares", and "Cubism Dream". But like I said before, the album doesn't feel like single songs - the songs just fit so damn well together. Bits and pieces of everything blend shockingly well, creating that unique sound that makes you know Gorilla Manor is something special. Check out their myspace here, and the music video for "Airplanes" below.